Safety During the Holidays
‘Tis the season for family, food, and fun (depending on how this whole pandemic thing shakes out). Along with the holiday season come lots of exciting traditions including decorations, cooking, Christmas trees, ornaments, and…accidents?
You wouldn’t think so, but accidents are all-too-common during the holidays. About 10 years ago, I was sitting at my mother-in-law’s house for Christmas dinner. All of us were enjoying the taste of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sharing memories from past gatherings. Suddenly my wife’s uncle (who rarely ever speaks) casually says: “There’s a fire in your living room.” We all thought he was joking. The look on his face was clear…he strongly urged us all to turn around. Sure enough…there was in fact, a fire starting in the living room behind us.
My father-in-law jumped up from his chair to grab the fire extinguisher underneath the sink. He put out the fire before most of us even knew what happened. A piece of garland had gotten too close to the fireplace and caught fire. It quickly spread to the other pieces above it, and damaged the mantle and the mirror on the wall. Luckily nobody was hurt, and the fire department did not have to be called. This is just one example of how things can go awry during the holidays.
Did you know?
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the three most common injuries during the holidays are attributed to cooking, decorating, and toys. Here are some staggering statistics:
- Cooking fires are the # 1 cause of residential fires.
- About 1,700 cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving Day each year
- Since 2000, there were 220 fire or scald/burn incidents involving turkey fryers, resulting in 81 injuries and over $9 million in property loss.
- Each day during the holiday season about 200 decorating-related injuries occur. About half of these involve falls.
- About 17,500 emergency room visits were attributed to holiday decorating injuries in 2018.
- Six deaths were attributed to holiday decorating in 2019.
- From 2015 to 2017, on average, there were about 100 Christmas tree fires and about 1,100 candle fires (in November and December), resulting in 20 deaths, 160 injuries and nearly $50 million in property damage each year.
- In 2019, there were an estimated 162,700 toy-related, emergency department-treated injuries and 14 deaths to children younger than 15, with most of the deaths associated with choking on small parts, like small balls and small toy parts and riding toys.
For helpful injury and accident prevention tips, take a look at the article here: https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/holiday-safety
The holidays can be fun and enjoyable for all. This year might look a little different. But make sure whatever you choose to do with your time, please – be careful, be safe, and stay active!